A great collection of klezmer music should include a diversity of music from different times and places, great liner notes, and should even be sure to include a few songs that will be unfamiliar even to most people who listen to klezmer. This double-CD compilation, from Network three years ago, meets all of those criteria. In addition, the liner notes appear in German, French, and English. They do a fair job of describing klezmer and some popular Yiddish music, and present tunes from bands as diverse as the Klezmatics, Dave Tarras, the New Orleans Klezmer Allstars, Budowitz, Kroke, Sam Musiker, the Epstein Brothers (with singer Ava Gold), and even Muszikás. If I were trying to present something to a friend who was unfamiliar with the genre, this is a collection that I would happily give.Released by Network Medien GmbH, 1998, Format: CD